


Philia

by Nike



Series: The Seven Loves of Jack Frost [3]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Best Friends, Canon Related, Drama, Friendship, Gen, Jack/Bunny if you squint, Love, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-16
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2018-01-19 14:16:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1472839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nike/pseuds/Nike
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>"Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness."</em> -  Euripides</p><p><em>"True friends stab you in the front."</em> - Oscar Wilde</p>
            </blockquote>





	Philia

**Author's Note:**

> I actually had this story done for awhile now, as some of my fellow Evil Authors can attest. I just wanted _Philautia_ to be done first and I wasn't happy with it for the longest time. 
> 
> As before, this is stand alone and reading the other stories in the series isn't necessary.

Philia - The Love of Deep Friendship

 

Jack's first thought upon waking was that it was too bright, so he brought up a hand to cover his eyes, only to stop because that made the brightness worse. It made his tired mind wake up enough to notice something was very wrong.

While Jack was pale and had been since becoming a spirit, he didn't normally glow. At least, he didn't unless he was using an awful lot of power, which might explain why he felt so exhausted. He also didn't usually have dark shadows moving underneath his skin.

That's about the moment it all came back to him; the fight with Pitch and the nightmares the Bogeyman had spent the last half-century reforming and taming, the weird black spear aimed at Bunny, and Jack taking the blow instead. Jack had done it knowingly and willingly. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd died for someone he cared for. 

Except Jack wasn't dead, even if he obviously wasn't healthy. He was sore, he was beyond tired, and his body looking like glowing milk fighting against light-absorbing ink in constant, hypnotic motion. It was also making some very weird shadows on the walls of the otherwise dark bedroom thanks to the way the glow kept shifting. He was somewhere in the Workshop, Jack decided as he levered himself up and out of the bed.

"How's he doing?"

Jack paused and then headed for the door because that had sounded like Tooth and Jack wanted to know if the others were safe and if they'd beaten Pitch.

"Not good," Jack heard North say.

"Not good? North, Sandy and I have both seen that weapon before. It's what Pitch always used to make fearlings. The fact Jack's not currently a Fearling Prince out making a new army for Pitch is a good thing! The fact Pitch wasted a hell of a lot a power doing it, too, means we won't have to worry about him fer awhile, either."  
Jack leaned against the doorjamb to look past the door someone had helpfully left cracked open. His friends were all in a cozy sitting room, none of them facing his direction and thus leaving Jack's presence unnoticed. Jack just relaxed at the sight of them, happy they looked alright if worried about him, and glad that it sounded like Pitch wasn't currently a problem.

"Is true, Jack's center is fighting the shadows, but for how long? Jack's light is keeping shadows at bay, not getting rid of them. They are too many. For every area the light clears, the shadow regroup in two more. He cannot keep it up. Already he sleeps with no sign of waking. Might be better if he does not, to not know horror of turning into monster."

Jack winced because that didn't sound good, but better him than the others.

"There, uh, might be a way to save Jackie," Bunny said quietly.

"Really?! What?" Tooth asked, perking up and rising into the air above the chair she'd been perched on.

"I... got hit by that weapon once. It should've turned me, but my best mate, he, uh, drew the shadows out by pure will. I was saved, but he turned inta fearling instead," Bunny explained, a haunted look on his face before he straightened and added, "An' it should be me who does it. Pitch was aiming fer me anyway."

"Nyet! You are Spring and Hope and New Life. Is better if this old fool does it."

"Nuh uh! It should be me! A core of memory will be stronger against the shadows than anything else," Tooth interjected, "and it's not like my girls can't do the work after... after I'm gone."

Sandy's sand disagreed with her, but Jack didn't pay attention to his non-verbal argument of why it should be the former wishing star instead because he was too busy shouting.

"No! _No!_ I won't let you do it!" he insisted, ignoring the way the floor swayed beneath him now that he wasn't supported by the wall. He couldn't, wouldn't let them do this. It would be kinder to just stab him in the heart. It would certainly hurt less.

"Jack!" Tooth gasped, buzzing over, her hands reaching out and hovering like she wanted to touch him but didn't dare.

"It's the only way, Jack," Bunny insisted.

"No! You can't! I won't let you take these shadows into you! Don't you understand what will happen? You won't just be temporarily turned into some sort of monster until we can fix you!" Jack stated before finishing brokenly, "You'll die."

"We know," North replied solemnly.

Sandy nodded his head in agreement even as Bunny said, "Don't ya get it, ya hoon? I - I mean _we_ \- we, uh..."

"We love you," Tooth finished for him.

"I'm not letting you die for me."

"Is good, then, that we are not giving you choice," North cheerfully stated even as he bodily picked up Jack and put him back on the bed he'd just left.

"What? North, hey! No! Let go!"

But the others were there, each holding a flailing limb and pinning him to the bed. All four of them had glowing hands.

"Heh. In this together, huh?" Bunny said.

"NO!" Jack roared, struggling harder as the golden glow left their hands and seeped into his skin. He had to fight because he couldn't lose them. He couldn't let them die. Not for him. Then Sandy hit him with the dream sand. 

"Sandy, you bast..." Jack managed before he conked out. His last sight before doing so was of the shadows leaving his body and crawling up his friends' arms.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Jack woke up much faster the next time. He still felt tired, but not nearly as drained, and the adrenaline rush that hit alongside his memories was more than enough to get him out of bed, the bedroom, and the empty sitting room as well. He faltered in the hall, unsure of which way to go - would they be caged by the reindeer or somewhere else or had the yeti already... taken care of them? - and he was intercepted by a yeti, one of the twins, although Jack couldn't tell if it was Bill or Balthazar through his panic. It didn't stop the yeti from picking Jack up and carrying him to the infirmary. Jack made a mental note to find his staff as soon as possible because this was getting ridiculous.

The yeti set Jack down on an infirmary bed and admonished him to stay put while they went and got a doctor. At least, that's what Jack thought was what they said. His yetish vocabulary was still sadly limited.

"The hell I am! You had the entire time I was sleeping to check me over and make sure I'm healthy," Jack complained as he got out of bed only to be swiftly deposited back in by an irritated yeti. "Hey! Cut that out!"

"Ergh. Frostbite, quiet down, would ya? M' tryin' ta sleep," the lump on the next bed slurred. Jack was fairly certain he'd somehow levitated without his staff because the next thing he knew he was straddling the lump on the other bed and staring down at a grumpy Easter Bunny. 

"Geroff," said Easter Bunny grumbled.

"You're alive," Jack managed through the sheer relief freezing his vocal cords. He didn't quite keep the tears from filling his eyes, though. Bunny's expression softened.

"We all are, ya drongo. Don't know if fighting against your center weakened 'em or if a quarter dose just weren't enough ta take on our cores or both or neither or what, but we didn't turn. Made us right sick, though. Ya missed all the chundering," Bunny said, accent thicker and older-fashioned in his worn-down state.

The yeti said something that sounded like 'norovirus', which made Jack wince because he remembered when the Burgess kids had come down with that one. In addition to the fever and general feeling of malaise, it also involved the body violently ridding itself of everything it could in every way possible.

"Yeah, like that, only wi' shadows. North's 'ad the yeti burning the sick. Fire purifies, ya know? Burns a right treat, too.

"Ya had it the worst, though, even if ya missed the sicking up part. Wore ya down so much that you've slept the past three days, and ya slept nearly two more afore that. If we'd waited any longer, might not still have ya."

Jack managed a smile and said, "I'm just glad I still have you. Will you... will everyone be alright?"

"Just need ta rest now, an' we'll be right as rain. Speakin' a which..." Bunny reached up and pressed against Jack's head until Jack was lying half-way on top of Bunny in the bed.

"Sleep," Bunny ordered. "Ya need it as much as I do. More, probably."

"Right," Jack agreed with a yawn. As he calmed down, he was aware of the others sleeping in the other beds, so he closed his eyes and joined them with the beat of Bunny's heart echoing in his ears.


End file.
